The remarks came after O’Rourke faced criticism for not directly defending Omar by name in an earlier disavowal.
During the tail-end of a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday, former Congressman and current presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke joined a chorus of other politicians slamming President Donald Trump for “inciting violence” against Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
O’Rourke’s public disavowal came after Trump uploaded an edited video Friday — which he retweeted Saturday — that juxtaposed Omar speaking at a conference for a Muslim lobbying group with a clip of the Twin Towers burning. The caption read «We Will Never Forget.»
«This is an incitement to violence against Congresswoman Omar, against our fellow Americans who happen to be Muslim,» O’Rourke said Saturday. «This is part and parcel of what we’ve seen from an administration that has described Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals.»
The remarks also came after O’Rourke faced criticism for not directly defending Omar by name when he tweeted on Friday, «We are stronger than this president’s hatred and Islamophobia. Do not let him drive us apart or make us afraid.»
O’Rourke was in South Carolina to accept his first endorsement from a fellow politician, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis. Recent polling shows the former Texas lawmaker in a distant third place for the Democratic nomination, sandwiched below frontrunners Sen.
